Health Safety Bond FAQ v6 6 22 16

Bond to Address School District Health & Safety Needs
Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is a bond and how does it differ from regular school funding?
A: A bond is special funding that fills in the gaps where state funding is insufficient for capital
needs. Teacher salaries, supplies and utility costs are examples of what the state refers to as
maintenance & operation funding or M & O. Capital dollars, a second category of state
funding, pay for items such as buses, roofs and air conditioning units. Bonds are different, they
are voted on by school district residents and are similar to your home mortgage. In other words,
the school district receives the funds up front to pay for large capital items and then those items
are paid for by district taxpayers over a specified number of years (in this case 10 yrs.). Bonds
cannot be used for employee salaries.
Q: What happened to the capital funding you receive from the state to address these needs?
A: In 2009, we received $813,000 per year from the state in capital and building renewal
dollars (buildings, buses, maintenance and technologyetc.) to fund our repair and replacement
needs. Funding was cut drastically in 2009. In 2016 that figure has eroded to $115,000 per
year.
Q: What have you done to prevent the need for a Health & Safety Bond?
A: Since 2009, we have pursued various initiatives in search of a non-tax solution to this
problem. We converted schools to district-sponsored charters, which the legislature took away
after one funding cycle. We have attempted to write School Facilities Board (SFB) grants, some
of which have been successful, but all take multiple years to bring to fruition. We have even
added certified technicians and mechanics in certain areas to keep equipment running longer
than its expected lifecycle. While all of these efforts have helped, they have not provided the
resources required to keep up with the needs of our aging equipment, facilities and buses.
Q: How does Prop 123 (the Governors State Trust Land proposal to settle the K-12 inflation
lawsuit) impact the need for a Health & Safety Bond?
A: It wont have an impact because Prop 123 funds, starting in the 2016-2017 school year, are
being used to raise teacher salaries. The state is facing a teacher shortage and therefore
competitive salaries are a must to attract and retain quality staff for our children. Over the
past three years we have lost close to 25% of the high school staff each year, nearly 50% of our
middle school math and science teachers and 21% of our elementary school teachers. Turnover
creates an additional cost in the area of training new employees. We are using proceeds from
Prop 123 to rectify this issue which means there will not be funding to address our capital
needs.
Q: Why is this bond focused on health & safety needs?

A: The reason the bond is focused on health and safety needs is that funding is only being
sought to address our most pressing needs in these area. These needs include buses for safe
transportation of our students to and from school and extracurricular activities; repairing and
replacing roofs; replacing all of the heating and air conditioning units (HVAC) that have
outlived their life spans; and parking lots that are beyond simple repairs. Maintenance on
these items has been extensive over the years and now we find we have exceeded life spans and
the ability to maintain in a cost efficient manner. These areas have a great impact on the
health and safety of staff and students and the learning environment of our schools.
Q: How large of a bond are you asking the voters to approve?
A: Although the state has given the district authority to bond up to $34 million for these
purposes, we have chosen to focus on the districts most important needs and have settled on a
$10 million dollar bond because it keeps the school bond tax rate at or below where it is set
today. We analyzed the cost of a $20 million and $15 million bond, but both would have
resulted in an increase to school bond tax rates.
Q: What will happen to school bond tax rates if the Health & Safety Bond passes?
A: We have analyzed that if we pass a bond in November 2016, the school bond tax rate will
actually remain the same or decrease. The reason for this is that we will be paying off and
eliminating other current bond debt.
Q: What will this Health & Safety Bond do for the District?
A: It will provide much needed building and equipment repairs and replacements for our
schools. The state has not provided adequate funding for school districts to preserve taxpayer
owned assets and we need to protect our facilities from further damage and keep our students
and staff safe. As indicated earlier, the state has cut 85% of our capital funds since 2009.
Although we have tried various non-tax solutions we are at a point where we feel we must come
to our taxpayers for help.
To see a list of the items included in the Health & Safety Bond, please refer to the document
titled Health & Safety Bond Expenditure List.
Q: How will the public know that the funds are being spent in a proper manner?
A: All bond funds will be spent in accordance with the language which is stated on the ballot.
To establish accountability, the district is audited by an outside agency on an annual basis. In
addition, the district will develop a quarterly bond expenditure report which will identify how
bond proceeds are being allocated in various categories.

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Bond to Address School District Health & Safety Needs

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why is this bond focused on health & safety needs?

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